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What is the difference between Asteroids, Comets, Meteoroids
Asteroids - Asteroids are those small celestial bodies which are parts of a planet which exploded many years back. That's why they are also known as 'planetoids'. They revolve around stars, planets and satellites. They are found in large numbers, between the orbits of Mars & Jupiter, in enormous size.
Asteroids formed towards the interior regions of our solar system where temperatures were hotter. As a result, only rock or metal can remain solid without melting.
Comets - A comet is a celestial body that consists of a nucleus of ice and dust and when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases a process called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma (the central part immediately surrounding the nucleus) and sometimes also a tail (a typically linear section consisting of dust or gas blown out from the coma by the Sun’s light pressure or out streaming solar wind plasma).
A comet has a solid, main structure known as a nucleus. Its nuclei are made up of an amalgamation of rock, dust, water ice and frozen carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and ammonia. This is why they are popularly described as "dirty snowballs".
Unlike rocky asteroids, comets are icy bodies, because they formed at farther distances from the Sun than the asteroids. That is why a comet spends most of its time in the outer solar system.
The term Meteoroids, Meteors and Meteorites, all indicate the one thing, but the difference between them is all about their locations.
Meteoroids are rocky or metallic debris, significantly smaller than asteroids and contain less water and ice than comets. They travel through outer space, and some directed to Earth sometime. Most meteoroids are fragments of comets or asteroids.
Meteors are termed to those meteoroids that come close enough to Earth somehow and enter into the Earth's atmosphere. We often call meteors "shooting stars" because as soon as it enters the Earth's atmosphere, it begins to break and burn due to friction, and often leaves a temporary streak of light behind them in the direction they are travelling.
Meteorites are something that we all can see. Some meteoroids that are large enough to crash down to Earth even after burning in the Earth's atmosphere are commonly known as meteorites.
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